I thank and join with Senator Norris in remembering the late, great Mervyn Taylor. We were all very proud of Mervyn Taylor in the Labour Party and what he did for this country. As Senator Norris has said, it is very important to remember him and his family today. On Senator Mullen’s contribution, today is the last day before we were to have the promised publication of the gambling control Bill. This was to happen on the last day of this particular month. I hope that we get to see that Bill and that we get the oppor…

I too welcome the Minister of State to the House. I join with colleagues in thanking our Chair, Senator Chambers, for her inclusiveness, for what she has done in bringing us all together and for arranging for the number of witnesses we saw in respect of this very important report to appear. We are here today to discuss the interim part of that particular report. A number of colleagues mentioned investment in ports and staffing levels. My colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne, has been mentioning Rosslare at every meetin…

I, too, want to welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Labour Party welcomes this Bill. It is described as technical in nature. As was said, it proposes an updating of the criminal justice aspects of the regime in respect of the smuggling of persons. It reflects the provisions of three international instruments against people smuggling. Of course, the need for this legislation is to ensure our continued compliance with the EU directives, allowing for national border control, customs, and police authorities…

The Senator has gone soft and he should sit down quick.

I welcome the Minister to the House. We are, of course, told that the Bill before us is largely a technical Bill to make amendments to the Defence Act 1954 and address ongoing issues with regard to the Defence Forces. In addition, following amendments on Report Stage in Dáil Éireann, the Bill includes a provision on the role of the Reserve Defence Force including, as has been mentioned by colleagues, the very welcome removal of the absolute prohibition currently contained within the Defence Act on members of the Re…

I join colleagues in sending condolences to my Labour Party colleague, Senator Annie Hoey, on the passing of her father, Ray. As colleagues said, our thoughts and prayers are with the family on this day. I want to raise two issues. The first is an urgent request for a debate with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the proposed review of housing aid and housing adaptation grants administered by local authorities. My office, particularly in recent months, has received an increasing number of c…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. Like other Senators, I congratulate Senator Ruane on her considerable work on this very important topic over a period of time and on bringing this motion before the House today. I also want to quote my own party colleague, Senator Hoey, and to tell her that we are all thinking of her and her family at this time. As we all know, Senator Hoey spoke on this matter recently and I want to quote what she said. She said: Too often when people are harassed, they feel they do not have …

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The reason we are here is, unfortunately, another example of the fallout from Brexit - a fallout following more than 40 years of co-operation that has seen our nearest neighbour remove itself from agreements and co-operation that were by all reports and particularly in this case working very well. It is, of course, vital that we acknowledge the importance of what is before us for the safety of our citizens and the security of our country. Given the closeness of our neig…

I thank the Cathaoirleach, the ushers, the staff of Leinster House, Mr. Martin Groves and Ms Bridget Doody for all their help. We are still newbies. This is our first year, as Senator Keogan said, after her love poem to Fianna Fáil. It was great for us to have that assistance throughout our first year. When I saw Jadotville listed on the Order of Business I was very happy. Maybe the Cathaoirleach has some information on what is happening. We will have statements tonight but we have not yet seen the report. I would …

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Labour Party will support the Bill. I am sure like many Members, not a week goes by when I do not deal with families and their applications for the nursing home support scheme. These meetings are often difficult as the families have done so much to keep their loved ones at home but, given the medical need of their father, mother, brother or sister, they are left with no option but to avail of the scheme. The need to help with the scheme has extended to relatives and…

I welcome the Minister for Defence to the House. I share the bitter disappointment expressed by colleagues about this report. I will address the language used as I proceed but I think it is important that we all get a chance to read the full 500-odd pages. When I raised this matter on the Order of Business this morning, the Leader stated we would have the report in our inboxes by 12 noon. In fairness to her, we did have it by noon but I have only had a chance to look at and take in the headlines. In saying that, I …

With the withdrawal of Ulster Bank and KBC from the Irish market, and the recent announcements that Bank in Ireland intends to close 103 branches and that Permanent TSB is withdrawing cash services from 44 of its branches, there is no doubt that the banking sector is in a deep state of change. This will leave Irish customers with only three full-service banks to choose from, which will have a significant impact on individuals and business customers throughout the country, especially the elderly and those in rural a…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House on this important matter. I thank him for his work to date. When I spoke at Tiglin, I suggested that nobody can accept that the tokenistic ‘small print’ warnings and invitations to be ‘responsible’ are in any way in proportion to the possible damage being inflicted by the lure of sports gambling ads. There are serious questions, ones that are surely in the public interest to have answered, as to how such a high degree of saturation of the media landscape by sports bettin…

I thank the Minister of State for his kind comments in regard to Deputy Bacik. The Labour Party is very proud of her. I have no doubt that she will be a loss to the Seanad but a great asset in the Dáil when she takes up her seat. On gambling, I welcome that the Minister of State said the gambling regulator will have a public health remit because it is public health that is most affected by the outcomes of gambling. I know he is very aware of that. We need to look at what is happening in the public health area. The …

I wish the Minister of State and his future wife, Aideen, the best for Thursday. It is unfortunate that on Sunday the Lilywhites will come between the celebrations but that is the way it has to be. There is no doubt the aims of this Bill can be considered reasonable. The objective is to put in place a small companies administrative rescue process, SCARP, to effectively reduce the number of companies that go into liquidation and instead give them access to an affordable rescue plan. There can be no doubt but that in…

I wish to raise two issues with the Deputy Leader of the House. The first is a Defence Forces issue and one that could benefit the terrific Defence Forces families we have in this country. Since the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association medical assistance scheme, PMAS, has been waiting on confirmation that it can continue to operate on a permanent footing after December of this year and under the current Northern Ireland planned healthcare scheme. The i…

I look forward to colleagues sharing all their tickets at face value when Kildare are in the all-Ireland this year, but more of that anon. I too welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Bill is welcomed by the Labour Party, by all sport and music fans and by all those who purchase tickets to attend events in the country. We should take the opportunity to mention the workers in the events industry. They have gone through such difficult times in the past 14 months. and hopefully they are beginning to see some …

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. We all looked in shock last Saturday week at the distressing scenes at the soccer match between Finland and Denmark when a young and fit international footballer dropped to the ground, suffering a cardiac arrest. The medical team on-site jumped into action and with the aid of an automated external defibrillator, AED, the player was stabilised and a life was saved. Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have seen or heard of this happening on our playing pitches, w…

I thank the Minister of State for his positive reply. The sum of €650,000 allocated to the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, OHCA, implementation group is a positive step forward in this regard. As the Minister of State said, there are a number of initiatives. I referred to one in Enniscorthy in Wexford, what happened in Laois and the initiative by my colleague, Councillor Paul O'Brien, in Wicklow. I ask the Minister of State to take those on board. Every minute makes a difference, and the Minister of State has ackno…

I watched a great camogie match last Sunday, the national league final between Kilkenny and Galway. The hurling was absolutely brilliant to watch. It was also great to see the uachtarán of the Camogie Association, Hilda Breslin, a proud Athy woman, present the cup to the victorious Kilkenny captain, Meighan Farrell. Coupled with the great performance of Leona Maguire on the US LPGA tour, it reinforced for me the very positive and welcome participation of women and girls in sport over the past few years. The recent …